All posts tagged mercer

Welcome to our new banana republic where the government runs roughshod over the people, and many of the citizens are thankful they can be abused. It seems so wrong, people gleefully surrendering their liberty, yet here we are. There are so many moving pieces, so much that is wrong, that it becomes easy to feel numb, easy to start thinking this is the way it has to be. Life does not have to be like this. It is incumbent on all of us to understand what is really going on and daily remind those in government that this is not ok, we are not going to sit by silently while our country and liberty is destroyed.

There is one basic principle that that we need to understand; one core motivation that brings almost everything into focus. It is not power or religion, though those are key enablers. It is money. This is all about money. Everyone in this horrible power grab is doing so for the money. Well some are doing it for bigoted reasons, but that a topic for another day.

Let’s start with the horrible healthcare bill in the senate that is about to be jammed down the country’s throat. There is nothing about this bill that improves healthcare. Yes, it will probably lower premiums, but this is accomplished by lowering coverages and raising deductibles. So for less, and in many cases basically no coverage, premiums decrease. That is not for the public good. Isn’t that what our government is supposed to do, support and increase the public good, even when difficult.

What this bill really does is move the funds used to defray healthcare costs for the less fortunate of society and move it to the top 1-5%. The people that can least afford to lose their healthcare are funding a tax reduction for the people that need it the least. And this is retroactive – the tax reduction for capital gains (the taxes on buying and selling stocks) is retroactive. This rewards the wealthy for past transactions. How is this related to healthcare again?

But wait, there is more. Insurance executive pay (including bonuses) over $500,000 will be receiving a large tax cut as part of this. Again, how is this related to healthcare or the common good? It is not. It is about making the rich richer and the poor poorer. This is key.

But our elected leaders don’t benefit in this, the money doesn’t go to them you say. Whoops, our elected leaders are either funded by the people who want these laws or actually benefit themselves. If you don’t know who the Koch Brothers or the Mercers are, it is time to learn. The Koch brothers spend nearly $1 Billion (!) on national elections to make sure the government is filled with people who will follow their agenda. Like lowering taxes for the wealthy and eliminating regulations. Let’s be honest, Koch Industries makes A LOT of money ($100 billion in sales according to Forbes) and these brothers make plenty. They just want more.

The Mercers on the other hand seem just plain wacko. You can get a good idea of who they are here and here. Here’s a few key take aways. They are the reason Breitbart, Bannon and Conway are behind Trump. They had thrown their weight behind Cruz, but he is so vile he failed. They have a few key agenda items. One religion. The other is a pending $7 Billion (!) dispute with the IRS. What’s a few billion if you can save 7? Their money and their goals permeate many of the actions you see taking place. Like a tax cut for the rich being called healthcare improvement. He’ll save 100s of millions with if this legislation passes.

So stop and think. Why do these GOP politicians want so many laws that hurt so many citizens? They have been paid handsomely to enact this legislation. Or in other cases, they are just greedy. Take Tom Price, the HHS secretary. He was submitting legislation that benefitted companies he owned stock in. In some cases he was buying the stock at a reduced priced prior to submitting the legislation. This is text book corruption. Or if you choose, he was stealing from you, because the stock market is a zero sum game.

Let’s not forget the DeVos/Prince families. They donate so much money, its not secret they set the agenda for many politicians. Betsy DeVos, the incompetent Secretary of Education, made no bones about deserving her cabinet post based on her contributions. So her money is everywhere. Her agenda is to get the money that goes to public schools funneled to private and religious schools (who cares about the separation of church and state?). Oh and she also has large stakes in student loan COLLECTION organizations. She’s rolling back regulations on these types of firms so she can profit. Money to the church, taken from the public schools. Money from highly indebted students going to her and her cronies. She makes money while the haves get richer and the have nots are oppressed.

And then there is the would be Royal Trump Family. Every action they take is designed to make money for them. Every trip to one of Dishonest Donald’s property is a tax payer paid infomercial. Oh and he’s getting paid for going. That’s stealing from you and me. And we as tax payers pay for renting space in his gaudy, golden tower so his family can be protected.

His daughter, how is as evil as her father, attends meetings with national leaders. Then, amazingly, she gets business favors, copyrights, licenses and donations. Her husband is just as bad. He has a debt load that is off the charts. It is hard to tell, because he keeps leaving his debts off the governmental forms he is forced to fill out. These loans come from banks under scrutiny from the US government. Well, mostly the previous administration. If this scrutiny can be dropped, the money saved will far exceed the hundreds of millions in loans outstanding.

Which brings us back around to Dishonest Donald. He wants to be the wealthiest of the wealthiest. When he was on the Comedy Central Roast, the only topic off the table was his wealth. He once sued a writer who said (and later proved) that the orange one was not a billionaire. Being wealthy is all he cares about. Every action he has taken is motivated by the need to enrich himself at our expense.

And if you haven’t read this article on what looks like Trump Organization money laundering, you should. I didn’t elect a man who seems to enjoy funneling money to Iranian causes. Why yes that is illegal. You know he was fined for “continued money laundering” too, right?

Let’s look at his evil travel ban. It is a Muslim ban, because he believes, wrongly, that all Muslims are evil terrorists. But if that was the case, why aren’t Saudi Arabia and Egypt part of the ban? It is because there are Trump properties there. When Iran and Somalia suddenly need a Trump golf course, remember this.

Follow the money. It is enabling greed, corruption and oppression. It is the motivation for everything you are seeing. I thought we were better than this, but a vocal minority in this country loves it. I weep for our future.